Their Slate was Never Blank
by KodeV
Summary: A group of yet Sorted first-years learn that despite their wishes to be different, the reputations of their families will not allow them to be.


_**This is JKR's sandbox – I'm just happily destroying her castle and making a new one. **_

**Their Slates Were Never Blank **

The words, some whispered, most spoken so they could be easily heard, reached the yet to be Sorted ears –

"Looks just like his father…"

"Heard her father was a Death Eater…"

"…claim they were neutral, but the family is deeply rooted in that pit."

"…thugs and I wouldn't be surprised if they'll become bullies.

"…a black widow. Which number husband is she on again?"

The excitement they once felt drains little by little as they get further and further away from London. The owners of the voices wear the colors red and gold, blue and bronze, yellow and black. The voices never belong to those wearing green and silver. They do not allow the yet to be Sorted first-years see their pity because they too, face the same whispers when boarding the Hogwarts Express and when they travel the halls of Hogwarts. And although they should keep them in the past, the whispers about this particular group of students brings back the memories of their own first train ride –

"He looks like a snake and I hope he's not Sorted to Hufflepuff."

"My father works with her mother in the Ministry. He says that the bloody Slytherins are holding up progress and preventing certain laws being passed."

"… that family, while not supporters, is as Dark as they come."

The train ride doesn't end soon enough. Despite their attempts to forget what they have heard and attempting to lighten the atmosphere by buying treats from the snack trolley and playing games – The words still weighs heavily on them. Like all young witches and wizards, they too, have dreamed of Hogwarts for years. Now, they wish they were anywhere but there, and gaze upon the castle as they cross the Black Lake with dread. What should be a joyous occasion is no longer one. They all know, despite wanting to enjoy the freedom of being away from family expectations, to be their true selves and flourish in a new environment- they will never be allowed to.

So to hide his disappointment, he places a smug smirk on his face when the Hat instantly calls Slytherin. Only one person will ever know that he did not allow the Hat to do its job. He told the Hat Slytherin and therefore, that was the decision everyone heard. He wanted to go against tradition like his cousin, to show the same reckless courage, so people would see him and not the father everyone saw when they looked at him.

With poise and grace, she turns her back on the table of the House her favorite aunt was an alumnus of. She was looking forward to freely learning the House secrets, but they were now forevermore locked to her. As she sits, she attempts to convince herself that she looks just as good in green and silver as she would have in blue and bronze.

Her face is oddly blank when her tie turns green and silver and the Slytherin crest appears on her robes. She focuses on learning to live with her decision, to be yet another member of family famed for good looks residing in the dungeons. Later, when a housemate sees her eyes looking at the Badger table and calls her out on it, she coldly informs him that he is mistaken. Only her younger sister will know that the heartbreak she endured. Only she will know that more than once, she will attempt to convince and justify to herself that she has made the right decision by stating that her cousin only had two years left at Hogwarts and that spending the remaining five with housemates that hated her "didn't sound like fun."

In the beginning, any placement would have suited this pair just fine, as long as the two of them were together. Had they not heard the whispers, the assumptions about themselves, their ties would have been yellow and black due to their loyalty to each other. Yet seven years of being somewhere they are not wanted changes their minds about being happy anywhere. So when the first chooses to be Sorted in the only House that did not prejudge him, the other follows.

Where he is dark, his best friend is fair and once he sees him Sorted to Slytherin, he resolves to do the same. Allowing himself to daydream during the Sorting, he remembers their pre-Hogwarts years. They often played together, pretending to be courageous knight doing reckless, but brave deeds. It was during these formative years that during a certain rainy day, the then seven- year olds came across a copy of "Hogwarts, A History." His grandmother read the descriptions of the common rooms to the two boys and once they learned that Gryffindor Tower had a view of the school's quidditch pitch, they both declared they had to be Sorted there for the view. As they grew older, their reasons became a bit more complicated but they never forgot about the view. He finally hears his name being called and as he walks forward to sit and be Sorted, the last one to be so, he pushes away the memories and prepares to join his best friend.

The head of Slytherin House looks at his newest Snakes with an impassive face but with sympathy in his heart. He knows personally the prejudices they face, being judged because of looks, personality, of being Slytherin.

"He looks like a slimy snake, with that greasy hair of his…."

"Slimy snake, Snivellus Snape…"

"It doesn't matter how long you known him, he's a Slytherin and you can't trust none of them…"

Pushing the memories aside, Severus Snape addresses his House. He hopes that with his speech, he will set the precedence that will help them survive seven years in a place where three-fourths of the student population is against them. If they haven't already, they would soon learn –

Their slate was never blank.


End file.
